Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Spider research

I wanted to look at spiders because I read a book about them, and I wanted to know more. So Marj and I talked to Rosie and asked her if we could do some research. Then I asked her if I can share it with the whole class. She said yes.

Here is what I have found.

Spider Research

What I know

Spiders make webs

they lay eggs

they have eight legs

wrap flies with silk before they eat them

their webs are sticky

baby spiders only hatch when they're big enough

only some spiders can go on sand

What i want to know

how many different spiders there are in New Zealand

Does NZ have native spiders?

where does the silk come from to make the web

What I've found out about spiders

Jumping spiders are small and they don't make webs. They catch their prey by jumping on them. They have four pairs of eyes, that's eight altogether. The female jumping spider lays eggs. A baby spider is called a spiderling.

A Raft spider stands on top of the water and catches insects, tadpoles and even small fish. A female spider spins a web like a tent to hold her eggs. She guards them until they hatch.

Wolf spiders hunt for food and do not spin webs. They usually hunt at night and they can see very well. Their spiderlings live on their mother's backs until they are big enough to hunt. They've got very strong legs and can run fas to catch heir prey.

I was researching spiders and I learnt that some spiders make webs and some spiders don't. After looking at lots of things, I decided to find out about spiders in New Zealand. Nga pungawerewere o Aotearoa. Then I thought about the poisonous spiders in New Zealand. I found out about the katipo and a fake or false katipo.

Katipo

Maori people knew about the spider that was poisonous and they called it Katipo and that means 'night-stinger'. Katipo live near beaches in the North Island. Only the grown-up female Katipo bites and a fully grown adult female is about the size of a pea. They are shy/whakama and will probably only bite if they get squashed by people.

The false katipo is shiny black or dark brown and just about the size of a real katipo. You can tell each kind of spider by the marks on their puku. It lives at beaches too, just like the real katipo. It's really common in our houses and in our gardens. Ag told me that she finds the false katipo in her garden.

In most parts of Wellington the real katipo has been replaced by the false katipo. This false katipo does bite people but not super bad like the real katipo.

I know lots about spiders now and next term I want to find out about worms.

Bibliography

My first book of bugs and spiders. Dee Phillips ticktock Media Ltd 2006